Compliance: Don t Let it Become a Liability by Ren Grajales

If you know the name Everett Dirksen, it's likely because of the longtime Illinois congressman's quote about government expenditures: A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.

Dirksen's quip could certainly stand some adjusting for inflation. For example, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates that U.S. companies paid more than $2 trillion to comply with federal regulations in 2012. Note that this amount doesn't include the cost of satisfying state and industry regulations.

Leave the Complying to Us: The Benefits of Partnership

So what can you do to make compliance easier and cheaper?

First off, don't go it alone. An experienced partner can help you meet the dozens of document and record-keeping mandates you're facing by providing:

Access to expert advice. You or someone at your company could turn compliance monitoring into a full-time job. But that would be a poor use of an employee's time and skills. Instead, rely on an outside partner with a deep reservoir of institutional knowledge about the most effective ways for a small business to comply with information-handling regulations.

Documents on demand. Countless hours are wasted because someone misplaced or disposed of much-needed records improperly. What's more, you can get fined for not locating the asked-for infomation. Document retrieval is swift and easy when you work with an organized partner on this part of the cycle. You can (and should) put all of your paper and electronic records into an easily searchable system.

Protection against exposure. Many of the horror stories about noncompliant companies begin with a rogue employee mishandling or stealing sensitive records. When you team with an established partner, you can restrict access to documents by storing them in a secure offsite facility and employing security measures to ensure that only authorized personnel can handle them.

Will working with a trusted partner save you a billion here and a billion there when it comes to compliance? No. But over time, it adds up to real money.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/service-lines/small-business/compli...
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